Speaker 1: Ute Legends and future Hall of Famer Eric Weddle on
Speaker 1: a Wednesday afternoon.
Speaker 2: Ewent, happy Wednesday, man, how you doing doing amazing?
Speaker 3: Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 4: We can't say future Hall of Famer yet because we
Speaker 4: don't know, you know, voting can.
Speaker 3: Get crazy, so we'll say maybe soon.
Speaker 4: To be.
Speaker 3: Hall of Famer would have a nice ring to it.
Speaker 1: Okay, fair enough, fair enough, I'm optimistic, you wed, but
Speaker 1: I am not you. So I will ask you where
Speaker 1: were you when you found out this news and what
Speaker 1: was your reaction?
Speaker 2: Because I always find.
Speaker 1: It interesting talking to people like you that have achieved
Speaker 1: something like this, and you know, you hear a lot
Speaker 1: of musicians or athletes or the people that have achieved
Speaker 1: say things like my dreams never got there, Like I
Speaker 1: never really dreamed to be a Hall of Famer.
Speaker 2: Was this a goal of yours?
Speaker 1: Or is this one of those things, like a potential
Speaker 1: accomplishment that you didn't even allow your mind to get to.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I don't. I don't think you're playing
Speaker 4: a team sport. I don't think anyone goes in thinking
Speaker 4: they want to end up a Hall of Famer. It's
Speaker 4: just kind of you know, I could be wrong. Maybe
Speaker 4: maybe it's like Deon Sanders might have thought that because
Speaker 4: he was just that incredibly talented and knew that of
Speaker 4: himself early on. But for myself, it was just man
Speaker 4: living living, living it up and having an opportunity to
Speaker 4: play college ball is where few and far between get that.
Speaker 4: So I was trying to make the most every day,
Speaker 4: and then you know, those things kind of fall into
Speaker 4: place when you're around good people, great coaches, great university,
Speaker 4: great teammates. Like it never happens by yourself, especially in football.
Speaker 4: So if something like this ever does happen for me,
Speaker 4: it's it's definitely a group effort.
Speaker 2: Where were you when you heard the news and what
Speaker 2: was your reaction?
Speaker 4: He went, well, Mark Harlan actually reached out to me,
Speaker 4: shot me a text like, oh, this is great first step.
Speaker 3: In getting into the college Football Hall of Fame.
Speaker 4: And I didn't know what he was talking about, so
Speaker 4: I was doing some other things and I didn't responded
Speaker 4: back because I didn't know if it was meant for
Speaker 4: me or someone else.
Speaker 3: Because I didn't I didn't have like there was.
Speaker 4: No news at the time, and then of course the
Speaker 4: posts started coming out in the news stating that I
Speaker 4: was a finalist for it. So I was just out
Speaker 4: at the high school with the football team. We just
Speaker 4: finished up spring ball, so just coaching these kids up
Speaker 4: and I got the news, and you know, it's humbling, obviously,
Speaker 4: it's exciting, and again it's not not ever done. No
Speaker 4: success on the football that happens because of the individual.
Speaker 4: It's always about the team. So I just think about
Speaker 4: my teammates and think about the team. I think about
Speaker 4: the love of Utah that I have in that university,
Speaker 4: and just thankful that I ended up at the place
Speaker 4: that I was meant to be at.
Speaker 1: Have you allowed yourself to think about out what that
Speaker 1: phone call would be like if you hear that you
Speaker 1: have indeed been inducted.
Speaker 2: Have you allowed your mind to go there?
Speaker 4: Nah?
Speaker 2: Nah, I don't.
Speaker 3: I don't.
Speaker 4: I don't think too far ahead. And and uh, I'm
Speaker 4: a I'm a guy that hopes for the best but
Speaker 4: prepared for the worst.
Speaker 3: So I don't let myself get too far down that
Speaker 3: road because it's just it's not my mentality.
Speaker 4: When it happens, it'll be it'll be fresh, and it'll
Speaker 4: be new, and and I'll enjoy it if it happens,
Speaker 4: and if not, then I'll just go about my day
Speaker 4: like I always do.
Speaker 2: That's a great attitude.
Speaker 1: But I will follow up with what would it mean
Speaker 1: to you if you do get that call and the
Speaker 1: news is you're in man, what would that mean to you?
Speaker 4: Well, you know it's it's uh, it means you're you're
Speaker 4: an all time great, You're you're you less lasting impression
Speaker 4: on the field and off of. Very few do and
Speaker 4: I think I don't know. I think the numbers around
Speaker 4: thirteen hundred college Football Hall of Famer So to be.
Speaker 3: In that mix and to be said and looked.
Speaker 4: At as a Hall of Famer is a very very
Speaker 4: unique and humbling proposition. So it's it's to really wrap
Speaker 4: your head around.
Speaker 3: It is kind of hard. It's kind of hard to
Speaker 3: do because I don't, you know, people know me. I
Speaker 3: don't look at myself in that instance.
Speaker 4: I think I put it all out there, and I
Speaker 4: think in the college I said this a couple of
Speaker 4: days ago.
Speaker 3: I think the College Football Hall of Fame I could
Speaker 3: sit there.
Speaker 4: And say, yeah, I think I was one of the
Speaker 4: best in that sense where I could be labeled as
Speaker 4: a Hall of Fame. Now, the NFL is a whole
Speaker 4: different animal. Which I don't think in my opinion.
Speaker 3: But the college football Like I could sit there and say, yeah.
Speaker 4: I belong with one of the best in those names
Speaker 4: that are enshrined, So it would be incredible and humbling,
Speaker 4: and truly I would probably be lost forwards.
Speaker 3: I'm being honest.
Speaker 1: Okay, I'm glad you said what you just said, because
Speaker 1: I was going to follow up with this, like you
Speaker 1: do know that you are an all time great, right,
Speaker 1: Like you're aware of exactly what you mean to the
Speaker 1: program around here?
Speaker 2: Correct?
Speaker 5: Well, I mean yeah, I know it, and I'm loved
Speaker 5: and you know that place is a very special place
Speaker 5: in my heart.
Speaker 6: So it's I know. Now, there are so many great players,
Speaker 6: So where do you rank them? I kind of in
Speaker 6: the old adage of Jordan of you know, rank me
Speaker 6: where you rank them, But you can't put me ahead
Speaker 6: of people that played twenty years before me, thirty forty
Speaker 6: fifty years. Like, I respect the game way too much,
Speaker 6: but I do know I'm loved and appreciated. I know
Speaker 6: that around the university.
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, fair enough, fair enough, because I mean I
Speaker 1: appreciate the attitude, I respect the endeavor. But as a player,
Speaker 1: you were a killer you know you were, So I
Speaker 1: wonder how you balance out being such a killer on
Speaker 1: the field while maintaining more of a balanced approach just
Speaker 1: as a human.
Speaker 6: Well, I mean that you cross that white line. At
Speaker 6: any point in my career, whether I was a true
Speaker 6: freshman at the University of Utah or fourteenth year coming
Speaker 6: off the street two years retired, my goal in mindset was,
Speaker 6: I'm I'm here to annihilate my opposition. I'm not here
Speaker 6: to make friends. I'm not here when it's my job
Speaker 6: is on the line. Yes, when I get off the
Speaker 6: white line, I'm a great teammate, and I love my
Speaker 6: teammates and this and that. But my I have a
Speaker 6: job to do, and it's every rep is a chance
Speaker 6: to prove that I belong on this field, leading this team.
Speaker 6: So it's a very easy switch to turn on and off,
Speaker 6: as I learned to do over the course of my
Speaker 6: college years and then in the NFL. But it's it's
Speaker 6: a doggy dog world, and if you don't have that mindset,
Speaker 6: you will get eaten up and spit out. And so
Speaker 6: I'd rather be on the other side of eating than
Speaker 6: getting spit out.
Speaker 1: I wonder I want to ask this today because I
Speaker 1: come from a family eric where I am the oldest
Speaker 1: of six and I am the only one of the
Speaker 1: six that went to the University of Utah. The other
Speaker 1: five all went to BYU and they all married, They
Speaker 1: all married spouses. They met at BYU and they all, sure.
Speaker 6: You're you're outnumbered, my friend, Oh I am.
Speaker 1: I chose truth? He wet is how I like to
Speaker 1: put it. Uh, you know, obviously I like to rip them.
Speaker 1: And I mean, look, it's all love, it's all good.
Speaker 1: And you know, a lot of the coaches down there,
Speaker 1: and they are all of my brothers, they went to BYU.
Speaker 1: They always say you're the ute that they wish was
Speaker 1: a cougar, and you're the ute that they just cannot
Speaker 1: say anything negative about. Does that jive with your experience?
Speaker 1: Does it feel like you have that universe respects from
Speaker 1: both these fan bases up here.
Speaker 6: Well, I think it's it's you know, to hear that
Speaker 6: is really it makes me smile. It makes me. I
Speaker 6: don't like to say it like in moments where you're
Speaker 6: proud of yourself, but I truly am proud of how
Speaker 6: I try to represent myself and my family and my name,
Speaker 6: my last name and even more so in the grand
Speaker 6: scheme of things. We're all here for a purpose, and
Speaker 6: we can get all riled up, and at the end
Speaker 6: of the day, it's about respecting your opponent no matter what,
Speaker 6: and speaking and treating your opponent in that type of fashion.
Speaker 6: I want to be treated as how others treat me,
Speaker 6: and so to hear that I do, smile and I
Speaker 6: and I and I am proud of that because I
Speaker 6: tried to represent myself in a way that most people
Speaker 6: will be proud to have me on their team, regardless
Speaker 6: of the rivalry. And shoot, I am so close with
Speaker 6: coaches on both sides, even at BIU talk to those
Speaker 6: guys right just as much. And those men that are
Speaker 6: in those leadership roles mentoring roles, I tip my hat
Speaker 6: to all of them, especially the ones that I love
Speaker 6: and care for, because they are men that I look
Speaker 6: up to and that are changing the trajectory of these
Speaker 6: young men. And so both programs have great men that
Speaker 6: are lead them and women that are within the facility
Speaker 6: and doing all the great things like they're really top
Speaker 6: notch programs that I am awesome to be affiliated with
Speaker 6: through friendships and family.
Speaker 1: I wonder if you feel comfortable because the relationships you
Speaker 1: have with your former coaches and teammates, that's, you know,
Speaker 1: that's a sacred space. And I have been close enough
Speaker 1: in in locker rooms and around teams that I respect
Speaker 1: that space. But I wonder if you'd feel comfortable sharing
Speaker 1: whether or not you heard from Morgan or coach with
Speaker 1: or Coloni when the news came down that you're on
Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame ballot. What other phone calls did
Speaker 1: you receive?
Speaker 7: You Yeah, Coach Witt of course reached out and congratulated me,
Speaker 7: And on both sides, anyone that knows me or or
Speaker 7: is close with me reached out.
Speaker 6: But they also know me as well that it's not
Speaker 6: a done deal, so they'll probably want to save the
Speaker 6: congratulateary the congratulations to when it's a final seid and done.
Speaker 6: So they know me as well that I'm probably not
Speaker 6: missing a beat until it becomes final.
Speaker 2: Tell me how the coaching stuff is going.
Speaker 1: Last time we talked to you, you you know, you
Speaker 1: kind of outlined the early returns of this new endeavor
Speaker 1: of yours, And I wonder if any of these young
Speaker 1: men who you are coaching have any idea what sort
Speaker 1: of killer you really were as a player.
Speaker 6: I think the young generation each year that goes by,
Speaker 6: I could care less about who their head coaches and
Speaker 6: what he used to be. And sometimes I have to
Speaker 6: remind them in a positive way that I'm here to
Speaker 6: help them and guide them and take it for what
Speaker 6: it's worth. Some of them goes one year out the other.
Speaker 6: But the few that actually take it and will be
Speaker 6: better from it, and those are the those are the
Speaker 6: ones that you're.
Speaker 3: Really going to impact.
Speaker 6: Can't impact them all, you try to, but the few
Speaker 6: that want it on and off the field, and and
Speaker 6: try to build these young men into future fathers and
Speaker 6: husbands of the future. That's really the ultimate goal. And uh,
Speaker 6: you know these these kids nowadays, they got so much
Speaker 6: going on that football and or the history of who
Speaker 6: their coach maybe is way down the list of prioritizing things.
Speaker 1: Yeah, uh, your boy is Gauge, correct, that's your son, Yes, sir,
Speaker 1: you still have him in the program and if show
Speaker 1: how's that going?
Speaker 6: Yeah he's uh. He's gonna be a sophomore coming up. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 6: he's uh. He is a fun, fun kid to be around.
Speaker 6: His passion, his work ethic, how he leads, he's uh
Speaker 6: he's got a chance to be special, and I'm just
Speaker 6: along for the ride and trying to help guide him
Speaker 6: as best I can, and excited for this year to
Speaker 6: lead our team. And he's put in the work on
Speaker 6: and off the field and really put his best footy
Speaker 6: foot forward to have a great year on offensive defense.
Speaker 6: So uh, we got We've got a good group coming
Speaker 6: back in the UH connected unit. Gotta stay healthy, obviously,
Speaker 6: but we have a chance to be really good and
Speaker 6: we'll see where his uh, his journey takes him over
Speaker 6: the next few years.
Speaker 2: You play like his dad at all.
Speaker 6: He's better than me, wow, when I was at this
Speaker 6: point in high school. So he's a bigger, probably more
Speaker 6: physical version of myself. You know, he's he's six to two,
Speaker 6: he's one hundred and eighty five pounds now and getting
Speaker 6: big and strong.
Speaker 3: So he's uh.
Speaker 6: I can only hope and dream that h'll have a
Speaker 6: better high school college and if he could ever make
Speaker 6: it better career than I ever did.
Speaker 1: What sort of see, it's such a delicate balance, I mean,
Speaker 1: what sort of advice do you give him? What sort
Speaker 1: of I mean, because I'm a parent too, When you
Speaker 1: really learn as they grow the best thing you can
Speaker 1: do is be guardrails, and you know, it's like bumper
Speaker 1: lanes and bowling and they're the ball. You're there to
Speaker 1: make sure they kind of stay in the lane, but
Speaker 1: you can't roll the ball down the middle for them.
Speaker 1: So what's it been like to watch this young man
Speaker 1: grow and evolve as a player, and how do you
Speaker 1: balance that as somebody that played and won at the
Speaker 1: highest of levels.
Speaker 2: When it comes to the advice you dispensed him, well.
Speaker 3: I just try to remind them that no matter what, if.
Speaker 6: You don't have fun and you don't love the game
Speaker 6: and everything that entails, and what's the point. The game
Speaker 6: is beautiful when it's purest form. So trying to remind
Speaker 6: him that, and I think he does a good job
Speaker 6: of that, but he just he wants to be so good,
Speaker 6: and I think he puts a lot of pressure on
Speaker 6: himself that. Reminding him that it's it's about managing the mishaps,
Speaker 6: the negative plays and how you rebound from that and
Speaker 6: how you control your emotions from a play to play
Speaker 6: basis is something that I think he's going to grow
Speaker 6: to be able to handle and really make that strength.
Speaker 6: But you know, he's it's just it's you know, last
Speaker 6: year was the delicate situation being a freshman and being
Speaker 6: the head coach. But I'm not gonna be apologetic for
Speaker 6: one of my best players, and it just so happens
Speaker 6: to be my son. Like, I'm not gonna sit here
Speaker 6: and not give him positive feedback or be excited when
Speaker 6: he makes a great play on the field, or do
Speaker 6: this and that because of the optics. I'm not doing
Speaker 6: that anymore. So I'm gonna be proud. And I only
Speaker 6: get to coach him three more years, and I'm gonna
Speaker 6: enjoy every second of it because I'm not doing this
Speaker 6: for anything other than trying to get back to the kids.
Speaker 6: And he just happens to be one of our better
Speaker 6: players that does everything right. I shouldn't have to apologize
Speaker 6: for that.
Speaker 1: No, you shouldn't. You should never have put You should
Speaker 1: revel in it. You should be proud of it. You
Speaker 1: should enjoy the entire situation. I've got his socials up,
Speaker 1: and I see as a freshman, he was your starting
Speaker 1: quarterback and also starting safety, and he has schools calling
Speaker 1: already right, looks like he's got some offers in his
Speaker 1: back talkt already, even only as a freshman.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean it's uh, it's it kind of came
Speaker 6: came at a whirlwind.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 6: The recruiting starts way early nowadays, especially if you know,
Speaker 6: if you're a freshman playing on varsity and you play well,
Speaker 6: schools are gonna find you and they're gonna they're gonna
Speaker 6: start getting their feelers out and let you know that
Speaker 6: that you're on their on their radar. So he's got
Speaker 6: a long ways to go, and he understands that that
Speaker 6: this these offers are basically saying like, we're interested in you,
Speaker 6: and if you keep developing and keep getting better and
Speaker 6: improving over the next couple of years, then these this
Speaker 6: could be a reality. But oftentimes the attention comes with
Speaker 6: these young kids, they go the other way and they
Speaker 6: they don't stay humble, and they don't stay hungry, and
Speaker 6: they become entitled and they feel like they've arrived when
Speaker 6: that's not reality. You have a bullseeye in your back.
Speaker 6: Even more so for him for who his dad is,
Speaker 6: that he's got outwork and outplay everyone every day. You
Speaker 6: can't ever let up because that'll be the opportunity that
Speaker 6: someone comes and takes your job or takes your playing time.
Speaker 6: And or takes that scholarship. So he has a good
Speaker 6: sense of that and he appreciates the love per se,
Speaker 6: but he knows he has a long way to go.
Speaker 3: To make it a reality.
Speaker 1: I noticed earlier, EWD, you recently turned forty, so welcome
Speaker 1: to our club. I am a little a little more
Speaker 1: advanced than you are, but I'm still in the forties area,
Speaker 1: So welcome to the forties. And it's been a minute
Speaker 1: since you went through the recruiting stuff. I wonder what
Speaker 1: the main differences are that you've noticed, because college football
Speaker 1: is much different now than it was in two thousand
Speaker 1: and one, two thousand and two when you were being recruited.
Speaker 1: What are the main differences between what you see Gauge
Speaker 1: and his teammates going through and what you went through
Speaker 1: back in the day.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, that's a great question. I right, spend
Speaker 6: quite an hour talking about the differences and trying to
Speaker 6: navigate the landscape of recruiting now. I mean, I took
Speaker 6: my official visit to the University of Utah in December
Speaker 6: and ended up committing that week, a month before signing day.
Speaker 6: Where now a lot of times these these players, depending
Speaker 6: on positions, depending on need, et cetera, et cetera, can
Speaker 6: be committing sophomore junior season. Uh so it's it's definitely changed.
Speaker 6: And with the NIL, you know, the programs that emphasize
Speaker 6: culture and loyalty and being a part of the community
Speaker 6: and the university is much more appealing to me because
Speaker 6: I'm a little old school. But you know, some schools
Speaker 6: aren't that way. So it's it's hey, we need you,
Speaker 6: we want you, how much can I pay you? Where
Speaker 6: in the grand scheme of things, this is a huge
Speaker 6: decision on not only what happens on the field, but
Speaker 6: the relationships and connections you make off the field and
Speaker 6: how you represent yourself. And it goes both ways, right like,
Speaker 6: after a year, the school may tell you that you're
Speaker 6: never going to play, so you want to hit the portal,
Speaker 6: and then other cases that you want more money and
Speaker 6: this and that. So it's just so many different dynamics.
Speaker 6: I just try to remind all my kids engage when
Speaker 6: he gets to that point.
Speaker 3: It's just the.
Speaker 6: Connection and where do you see yourself for four years?
Speaker 6: Right Like, where do you want to build the relationships
Speaker 6: and build a legacy on this endeavor? Right Like, it's
Speaker 6: not about the money. It's not about where I can
Speaker 6: get this or that, obviously, it's it's about the you know,
Speaker 6: x'es and o's and systems and offense and defense and
Speaker 6: the staff and who's going to be coaching me and
Speaker 6: the culture and this and that blah blah blah. But
Speaker 6: outside that's what do you want? What is your last
Speaker 6: impression on you? Like, what do you want to be
Speaker 6: represented by? And what do you want to be remembered by?
Speaker 6: You want to be remembered by chasing the next best
Speaker 6: thing or staying where your feet are and growing and
Speaker 6: dealing with adversity and dealing with competition and maybe falling down.
Speaker 6: Are you going to get back up? Or are you
Speaker 6: going to run to the next best thing? Like, So,
Speaker 6: those are the things that I try to look at
Speaker 6: and try to educate our kids. And it's not me though.
Speaker 6: It's Gauge's decision and his journey. I'm just trying to
Speaker 6: help him. At the end of the day, it's going
Speaker 6: to be him and.
Speaker 3: What he wants.
Speaker 6: But I know deep down that whatever decision, when if
Speaker 6: it comes to that, it he's fortunate enough to have
Speaker 6: a decision that he'll do it for the right reasons.
Speaker 2: I'm quite sure that.
Speaker 1: Are you fans listening after they heard you say Gauge
Speaker 1: is a bigger, stronger version of me, are waiting for
Speaker 1: me to ask you if that's the case. Is there
Speaker 1: any chance this young man plays his college ball in
Speaker 1: Salt Lake City?
Speaker 2: And if so, what would that mean to you?
Speaker 6: Yeah? I mean Gade is a He's a big thinker
Speaker 6: in the sense that he wants to be better than
Speaker 6: I was and he wants to make his own mark. Now,
Speaker 6: he obviously has a deep love for Utah. But I
Speaker 6: would be honestly, I would be happy if he gets
Speaker 6: to play college football. I'm not really pigeonholed on where
Speaker 6: I'm more just would be so proud if he even
Speaker 6: gets a chance, because it's it's tough, man. There's amazing
Speaker 6: players across the board that do things the right way,
Speaker 6: and sometimes it just is luck. Sometimes it's staying injury free.
Speaker 6: Sometimes it's just seeing a coach that believes in you.
Speaker 6: Like there's so many different factors. So yes, I would
Speaker 6: be honored and proud if he went to the You,
Speaker 6: but he's gonna carve out his own journey, and obviously
Speaker 6: he will when he gets to that. If he has choices,
Speaker 6: but there's gonna be there's a lot of great schools
Speaker 6: out there that has showed that they like him, and
Speaker 6: if he continues on the trajectory that, well, he'll have
Speaker 6: his choice, which was just pretty insane to even think about.
Speaker 2: I think it's awesome.
Speaker 1: I think it's great As a father of his son,
Speaker 1: I know what that must feel like for you. Before
Speaker 1: I said you, Lucy wed we all know that you're
Speaker 1: one of the Big Twelve. Was not what we were
Speaker 1: hoping for any of us expected at all.
Speaker 2: Some new coaches, some new transfers.
Speaker 1: What's your confidence level the Utah football year two in
Speaker 1: the Big twelve will look better than it did year one?
Speaker 6: Well, yeah, I mean I've been I've been fortunate enough
Speaker 6: that coach Wit and Scally and even coach lud before
Speaker 6: he left, allowed myself and some coaches to come out
Speaker 6: for two three days at a time and being all
Speaker 6: the meetings, position meetings, coaches meetings, obviously, be at the practices,
Speaker 6: so I'm pretty intimate with what's going on and seeing
Speaker 6: the guys and I'm I'm I'm optimistic, ecstatic, excited for
Speaker 6: the team. I think it's a it's a more connected unit.
Speaker 6: I believe with the change offensively, change is good if
Speaker 6: you're willing, and obviously we need to stay healthy, we
Speaker 6: know that, but the groundwork is there, and I think
Speaker 6: the changes offensively are going to bring a fresh new start,
Speaker 6: a fresh new vibe and energy and belief. I think
Speaker 6: with our offensive line, with those tackles and in the
Speaker 6: guards and just the whole unit is going to be
Speaker 6: the best in the country, potentially two first round picks
Speaker 6: on the edges tackle wise. So I mean, we got
Speaker 6: a lot of great things that are that are coming
Speaker 6: out for this season in that Yes, our last year
Speaker 6: was not us, but hey, that that stuff happens, right,
Speaker 6: And how are we going to rebound? How are we
Speaker 6: going to come back from that? With coach with leading
Speaker 6: the leading the charge and Scalley on defense, and you know,
Speaker 6: with the new offense, you know, I've drawing a blink
Speaker 6: of the offensive coordinator, which I'm I'll have to apologize for. Yes,
Speaker 6: Coach Beck who was obviously graciu enough to let me
Speaker 6: be in the meetings and whatnot learn from them, and
Speaker 6: you know, I am. I think we could be an
Speaker 6: outstanding team and as long as we can. It just
Speaker 6: comes back to team football right, protect the football, be
Speaker 6: explosive on offense. I think that's going to happen naturally
Speaker 6: with the quarterback with the element of running, but also
Speaker 6: extending plays, but just making sure that we're no matter what,
Speaker 6: we protect the football, we score in the red zone.
Speaker 6: And we played great defense, which we will. We were
Speaker 6: going to be better than we were last year on
Speaker 6: defense with Scalley and the system and the guys playing
Speaker 6: together and being healthy. So listen, Nobody on the on
Speaker 6: the on the on the schedule worries me and or
Speaker 6: tells me we can't be if we go play great football.
Speaker 6: Is there great teams on our schedule, yes, but we
Speaker 6: go play our style of football, we should be able
Speaker 6: to be anyone on there.
Speaker 1: All right, my guy, Well, thrilled for you, and we
Speaker 1: are optimistic about your chances and when that goes down,
Speaker 1: we'd love to get you back on, if not sooner,
Speaker 1: So enjoy the rest of the week.
Speaker 2: Eric, thanks for the time, buddy, be well.
Speaker 6: Okay, you got it anytime. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1: Brother, All right, Eric Weddle, future Hall of Famer, not
Speaker 1: just in college. I didn't offer the follow up when
Speaker 1: he said I'm not sure that the NFL thing is
Speaker 1: a possibility. I felt like he was getting uncomfortable with
Speaker 1: my effusive praise. But he's got a shot at some
Speaker 1: point to be in Canton as well, I would imagine.
Speaker 8: Yeah, you, I mean, Eric's a guy that, despite you know,
Speaker 8: how good he was here at Utah, and despite having
Speaker 8: a super Bowl ring all of the above, you know,
Speaker 8: doesn't like to toot his horn too much. A stat
Speaker 8: for you, Spence. Five guys in NFL history nine hundred
Speaker 8: tackles and twenty nine career interceptions. It's Eric Weddle, Brian Dawkins,
Speaker 8: Rodney Harrison, Ronde Barbara and Ronde Barber and Charles Woodson.
Speaker 8: That's the entire list.
Speaker 1: Geecee, that's impressive. Yeah, at some point, our guy is
Speaker 1: going to get a look. If I was a Hall
Speaker 1: of Famer, I'd never take the jacket off.
Speaker 2: Let's be clear. I'm wearing the gold jacket all day,
Speaker 2: every day. Oh.
Speaker 8: If I reached the pinnacle of any sport of any kind,
Speaker 8: the ring, the jacket, the you know, the green jacket,
Speaker 8: the gold jacket, super Bowl ring, It's on me forever.
Speaker 2: At that point